Lillian's (aka Thelma) Miracle: God's Saving grace still Abides Today

Lillian’s Testimony

Thanking Jehovah Jhari for my spared life.

On March 19th 2009, I had to be rushed to Mayday hospital due to the cerebral stroke that I was having, which affected the right side of my body and I was unable to speak.

The medics informed me that I was to be “Thrumbalised”, which is to receive a medication specifically to thin any blood clots and decrease the chances of further damage.

Whilst I was in the ambulance, I was drifting in and out of consciousness, I could hear the paramedics and my son Jahzeel talking amongst themselves, but was unable to respond or interact with them.

Whilst they were talking I felt myself go to this quiet place, which was a pebbled beach, which had three great big boulders, I was mesmerised by these boulders, as they were perfectly clean even though they were right by the sea. I was wondering why these boulders were there, but my main intention was to enter into the sea itself. My attention was brought back into this plane by the medics calling my name and trying to get me to interact with them, asking me to stay awake and alert.

When we arrived at Mayday, the Thrumbalising team was waiting for me and I was transferred to a gurney, the team within mayday immediately set about getting a line into my veins. When the ambulance and the paramedics had arrived at my house, they tried in vain to locate a vein, and had so much trouble, that is why the paramedics left their vehicle at my home and travelled with me in the ambulance, trying and failing all the way to the hospital to get a line attached.

When in mayday due to the problems they called on specialists who would have more success, they tried in my hand, wrists, arms and even my feet! And was unsuccessful, then a man came and was successful in finding a vein, to my great delight and pride, I recognised the man to be Kelvin Hendricks, the son of my minister. I was so proud and happy to see where God had brought him and had used him to help me in my distress.

By this time my two sisters, niece and granddaughter had arrived, my family being firm believers of God, and the manifestation and healing powers of the Holy Spirit began to minister to me in prayer, my eldest sister, Edna, anointed me from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet, and pleaded the blood of Jesus over me, whilst she was anointing me she told me that whatever was in my mind that had caused the stroke, I must now leave it behind and trust in the Lord. I was unable to speak back to her coherently, but I knew that I would be alright as the Spirit of the Lord, Praise his name, had already assured me that everything was going to be fine!

I must confess that due to my physical condition, the numbness on one side, heaviness, the inability to speak, not hearing my voice but a horrible sound that emitted from my mouth, also my long term sickness, I really felt that enough was enough! I just wanted to leave my body behind and get back to that beautiful beach, in fact when I was in the ambulance, I had already asked the Lord if everything was alright between us, that was the beginning of the beach journey.

I realise now that it wasn’t my time and that God did not want me to go, never to return. So here I am, giving this testimony. There are days I spend time trying to understand fully what I went through; Sometimes I have to pinch myself to confirm I am really here. It is hard for me to comprehend the completeness of God’s mercy and restoration.

M eldest, Horace, was with me and I could see he was visibly distressed by my condition, I tried to tell him that I was going to be fine, but he shushed me saying, “it’s alright mum, don’t try to speak, just rest for now”, but I wanted to reassure him, so because I couldn’t speak I held up three fingers to him to try and explain myself, and all Glory Unto God, Horace knew immediately what I was trying to say and actually told me “ I understand, you’ll be fine in 3 days”.

But even I underestimated the healing powers of Jesus the Saviour!!

When the family left me around midnight, with the exception of my daughter and carer Ruth, a nurse had been given the responsibility of looking after me, another nurse came on duty and took over from the first, and when she was struggling with the drip, my spirit detected a sadness within her, and it was not to do with the drip, straightway the Lord instructed me to talk to her, I didn’t want to talk fearing that all that would be heard would be a horrible sound, but the Lord once again instructed me to talk to her.
I in obedience tried to say to her “Alright?” This came out muffled, so I tried again, and again! The third time it came out clearly, Glory Be Unto God! She then realised that I had spoken to her coherently and we began talking, and I started to tell the nurse that my daughter had looked after me for over a decade dealing with my terminal illnesses.

I told the nurse that Ruth had been at the forefront of my struggles with my illness and how very blessed I was for her assistance. Without jumping ahead of myself when I looked around the ward, I realised how very blessed I was with my children with the care they gave to me.

Coming back to my healing! I told my youngest Jahzeel 2 weeks before the stroke to learn songs by heart because it is not all the time that you can open a bible or songbook, and the Lord proved my words because there I was and I could not do either in my condition. But the songs was within me, on Sunday morning I awoke with the song “Blessed Assurance”, through the blood of Jesus Christ my fingers began to move! I alerted the nurse who came over and started to check the connections to the monitoring apparatus and I showed her that I could move my fingers.

She said, “ Oh you frightened me, I thought you had come loose!” She was very pleased to see movement within my fingers so soon though.

The next song that was imparted into my spirit was “Haven of Rest”, I could only hum this song but to my delight the Lord still allowed movement to now return to my whole arm.

On the Tuesday the song “The Lord is My Shepherd” was placed in my heart to sing, but due to my condition, I couldn’t remember the words but only the verse, which caused me to fell frustrated and confused, but the Spirit of God in his tender mercies told me not to fret but just to sing the verse over and to my joy I was now able to lift my whole arm! GLORY TO GOD!!

Another song that God ministered unto me was “Weeping may endure for the night, Joy cometh in the morning”, I was instructed to sing this refrain, which I did quietly because it was during the night. As I sang to my joy I was able to move my toes and ankles, what a relief!! I was beginning to gain feeling back in my feet, I was even grateful for a shooting pain that went up my leg as any sensation was a good 1!

As I went through my treatment, being carried back and forth to have brain scans, the Doctors and Nurses openly displayed their amazement at the speed of my recovery and what was truly heart warming was that so many of them were fellow worshippers of Christ, from Doctors, to nurses, even the porter that moved me around, I was able to use my voice to discuss and join with them in the glorification of Jesus and his great mercies.

I was especially pleased to be able to use my voice, as I clearly remembered the almost prehistoric noises I was making on the Friday, also the Doctors said that my speech would be the last thing to come back when in fact it was the 1st!!!

One thing that depressed me was having to use a bedpan, maybe I was suffering from pride but I really disliked it, so I asked the Lord to recognise my need to as I am human and must use the toilet, God was so kind he restored enough strength in my left arm that I was able to carry out some self hygiene functions, and I also once again want to thank my daughters, who would see to my personal hygiene and never left me without first ensuring that my needs had been catered to.

Eight days after I had been first admitted, a young Asian nurse saw me and said, “You are a miracle, I saw you when you came in, and to see how you are now is a miracle!”

I asked her if she was a Christian, to which she replied no and that she also did not believe in Jesus, as she is a Muslim.

“I believe in God and I believe that he answers prayers, continue to be strong in your prayers” she told me before leaving the ward.

The physiotherapist was also happy with my progress and would set tests for me, she instructed me lift a sachet of salt and to hold and turn a pen, which I was unable to do. This caused great despair within me and I had to fight back the tears, as I did not want her to see me cry. The funny thing was my 1st fear was that I would not be able to knit anymore.

Then God spoke “Are you really going to cry after all that I have done for you? JUST ASK ME”.

That night I asked God for healing and by the morning I could hold the pen, I could also use the pen!! Even to write the dream I had during the night!!

I have never been an academic but I noticed that another aspect of my healing was that my vocabulary had improved and increased, evidence that God was healing and restoring my mind, even better that before the stroke!!

WHO BUT JEHOVAH, WHO BUT CHRIST JESUS, PRAISE THE LORD.

Throughout my recuperation in hospital God was speaking words of reassurance to me, telling me not to fear the here and now, nor fear for the future.

I witnessed the effects that strokes had on others by observing the other patients within the ward, some retained all their physical abilities but suffered mental difficulties, and with some the opposite, retained mental faculty but lost movement within their bodies.

The night before my hospital assessment some of the patients on my ward were very unsettled and made it hard for me to sleep, so when I had to get up to do the examination I was extremely tired and even asked if my exam could be postponed, which the doctor and nurses of course, on the basis of not wanting to be unprofessional, was refused.

Through God’s grace and will I completed the assessment, walking up stairs and with the assistance of the physiotherapist even managed to walk up a flight of stairs within the hospital.

I was told that I was only the 3rd people to be so successful in receiving the Thrumbilising treatment, in fact 1 in 18 who have received the treatment die and 1 in 10 do not recover fully.

There was this lady in the hospital that called me “Superstar” due to the amazing recovery, this lady did not believe in Christ or that God was the supreme power, but I hoped that my experience would at least give her food for thought.

I was in hospital for 12 days from the day of my stroke and on the 13th day, I was discharged and escorted home with the physiotherapist and OT officer. They were there to see if I would be okay returning home.
When I entered my home, I was required to climb the stairs; such was God’s restoration within my body I actually ran up the stairs!! The physio was saying to me “slow down Thelma, take your time, take your time!!”
So I had to come back down and walk back up slowly, to the amusement of all present.

I passed all the other examinations with flying colours and also due to the hospital being confident in my children’s care for me I was allowed to remain at home.

Praise God I was back home in my bed!!

As I settled back into my home, the Lord instructed me to have a thanksgiving meal to glorify him for his saving grace and the miracles he had wrought in my life.

In obedience I called my sister Edna to ask her to bake a cake, and to my delight she stated that she had already started one for exactly this purpose. My sister Maureen provided some macaroni cheese and sausage rolls that were delicious. Ruth and Jahzeel as always put in a lot of effort to ensure the food and house was ready for our guests.

I invited those who normally attended the tarrying meetings to the thanksgiving and all who attended was blessed, especially as The Holy Sacrament, the blood and flesh of Our Lord Jesus Christ, was taken that night.

Others may hold to the annual taking of the Sacrament but I hold to the word of God, stating “as oft” meaning as “often” as possible.

The evening was wonderful, as well as the sacrament, we broke bread and ate a excellent meal that all enjoyed and the fellowship was especially sweet, every one present gave thanks that they were not bemoaning me through death but instead were celebrating my life!

Glory To God for his continued mercy and grace towards me!

I hope that all who read this testimony are blessed, please know that the God we serve is a true God, a very present god, whose miracles are not limited to the days of the bible. His power is just as potent and effective now as it has always been.

My experience happened in March 2009, and to know that God is still working miracles in this world, which has largely rejected him, has given fresh strength to my faith and has made me more determined to worship him.

Please hold onto the everlasting hand of the Lord, praise him because he is worthy, glorify him because he is King and love him because he first and always loves you!

The devil will attack you, with sickness, stress and disappointment. It may even seem as though he is succeeding, but the Devil is a LIAR!! The Blood of Christ will always prevail and will give you the victory.

I would be a liar myself if I sometimes I do not ask God why? But I know his grace is sufficient and through him, my head will be lifted up above those who plan my downfall.

Let God be your provider and protector, you will not need, nor need fear, he never fails!

If you have not found God yet, seek him out, believe me he’s waiting for you, he always been waiting for you.

Be of good courage; plead the blood, stay blessed in Jesus Christ the King of Kings and claim the Victory!!!

With all my love to you.

Sister Lillian
Over comer in the Lord

This is a true testimony, my beloved family in Christ, yes we can be broken, but not beyond the saving grace of our Lord & Master Jesus Christ!

If you or anyone close to you has had a stroke (Sister Lillian is my mum) I hope this story has given you comfort and faith that with the Lord beside you....you too are an OVERCOMER through the Blood.

My love to you all in the precious name of Jesus.

PRAISE JESUS FOR HE IS WORTHY OF ALL PRAISES!
 
Thank you Horace, and Amen, yes Hallelujah!
it makes me think of 2Cor 1:4 as we know that He does comforts us in all our suffering, but even more so as His Word says that we may be able to comfort others in all their suffering, since we ourselves are being comforted by God.
 
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